Adjustable batten-clamp



UNITED STATES EDWARD GEE AND ROBERT L. BURNS,V OF DENVER, COLORADO.

ADJUSTABLE BATTEN-CLAMP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 20, 1920.

Application filed November 13, l1919. Serial No. 337,899.

To all wiwi/t t may concern.'

Be it known that we, EDWARD Gan and Ronnnr L. BURNS, citizens of theTJnited States, residing at Denver, in the county of Denver and State ofColorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in'Adjustable Batten-Clamps; and we do declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to improvements in clamps and it has moreparticular reference to an adjustable clamp which is especially designedto be used in connection with theatrical scenery.

Heretofore, great difliculty has been encountered by stage hands inproperly erecting and arranging theatrical scenery so that it willpresent a. realistic appearance to the audience. lt is generally7 wellknown that theatrical scenery consists of wooden frames, commonly knownas battens, over which the painted canvas is stretched and fastened. Dueto dampness and various other causes, these battens become warped andget out of shape, consequently when it is desired to arrange the scenes,the meeting edges of the battens do not come into effective contact witheach other, which condition naturally forms cracks between the scenes,thereby greatly impairing the effectiveness of the setting. It istherefore the object of tiis invention to provide a simple, inexpensive,yet highly efficient clamp which may readily be placed upon the battensto cause the meeting edges of the battens to come into tight contactwith each other, thereby overcoming the above circumstances to a greatextent.

Another object .of the invention is to provide means for retaining theclamp in operative position, this retaining means being of suchconstruction that it permits the clamp to be readily attached to, anddetached from the battens.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be appare-nt duringthe course of the following description.

ln the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, andin which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughoutthe same,

The figure is a perspective view of a clamp constructed in accordancewith eur invention, illustrating the manner in which it is attached tothe battens.

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown apreferred embodiment of our invention, the numerals l and 2 indicate apair of metal bars or strips. The bar l has one of its ends bentlaterally to form a clamping jaw which is adapted to engage the inneredge of the batteri 3. The other bar, 2, is provided with an adj ustablejaw l which engages the inner edge of the other batten 5. This jaw 4 maybe adjustably mounted on the bar 2 in any suitable manner, but as wehave shown, the bar 2 is provided with an elongated slot 6, and theclamping jaw 4L is provided with a threaded stud which ext-ends throughthis slot 6, and a clamping nut 7 serves to retain the clamping jaw 4 inthe desired position. lVith this construction it will be seen that theclamping jaws may be readily adjusted to various sizes of battens. lnorder to actuate the clamping jaws toward and from each other, weprovide a lever 8 which is pivotally connected to the bars l and 2 asshown, hence it will be seen that by moving the lever 8 toward the rightthe clamping jaws will be actuated to clamping position. lVhile thislever may be of any other construction, we prefer to employ a flat metalbar and a portion of this bar is offset laterallyT as indicated at 9, sothat when in its operative position the lower portion thereof willextend diagonally across the battens 3 and 5, the purpose of which willhereinafter be set forth. In a clamp of this type it is desirable tohave the bars 1 and 2 parallel with each other at all times so as tobring the clamping jaws into proper engagement with the battens. Inother words, it is generally known that these battens are generallyconstructed of soft wood and if the bars l and 2 of the clamp are notparallel the clamping jaws would so engage the inner edges of thebattens that they would tend to dig into them, which of course is notdesirable, and by making the bars parallel it will be seen that theinner surfaces of the clamping jaws will at all times be parallel withthe inner edges of the battens, thereby insuring proper engagement ofthe jaws with the battens. Any suitable means may be employed forretaining these bars l and 2 in parallelism with each other, but we.prefer to employ a link 10 which is pivotally connected thereto asshown, and

this construction insures that the bars 1 and 2 will be parallel at alltimes. TheY lever 8 is retained in operative position by means of alocking member 11 which is carried thereby and is longitudinallyshiftable on it. This locking member 11 may be constructed in anydesired manner, but we have. shown it as being in the form of arectangular sleeve, a portion of which extends laterally from one sideof the lever 8 and is engageable with the inner edge of the batten 3'.Inasmuch as this sleeve 11 might otherwise Y slip off of the lever 8when the clamp is not in use we provide a lever with a lateralprojection or stud 12 which prevents the member 11 from slipping ell ofthe lever when the device is not in use. By Constructing the lever 8with theY ollset portion 9 it will be seen that when the locking memberis moved to locking Vposition it Will be tightly wedged against theinner edge of the batten 3.

It is customary in erecting scenery to employ braces and in order tomake this device more effective in use we have provided a brace-engagingloop 13 at one end of the lever 8 so as to permit a brace to bedetachably connected with it.

It is believed that the manner of using the clamp is entirely obviousfrom the foregoing description, therefore further description is thoughtto -be unnecessary.

lVhile we have described our clamp as loeing` especially designed foruse with theatrical scenery, we desire it to be understood that it 'maybe equally well employed to clamp various other types or' battens and'strips of wood together.

2. A batten clamp comprising apair of clamping jaws adapted to engagetwo opposed battens, a lever pivotally connected to the jaws foractuating them toward and from each other,and means movably mounted onthe lever and adapted'to engage one of Y the battens to retain theclampingjaws in operative position. V Y i 3. A batten clamp comprising avpair of clamping jaws adapted to engage two opposed battens, a leverpivotally connected to said jaws, and a lever locking member carried bythe lever and longitudinally shiftable thereon, said locking memberbeing adapted to engage one of the battens.

4. A batten clamp comprising a pair of clamping jaws adapted to engageopposed battens, a lever pivoted to the jaws and adapted to actuate themto clamping position, a portion of the lever being offset laterally topermit another portion thereof to extend diagonally across the battens,and a locking member shiftable longitudinally on said lever, and adaptedto be positioned against an edge of one of the battens.

5. A batten clamp comprising a pair of bars each having a jaw adapted toengage the article to be clamped, an actuating lever pivotally connectedto said bars, a link pivotally connected to said bars, and means toretain the lever in operative position.

6. A batten clamp comprising a pair of bars, one of said bars having oneof its ends bent laterally to form a clamping jaw, the other bar beingprovided with an elongated slot, a second clamping aw having a threadedstud thereon extending through the slot in one of the bars, a clampingnut on said stud, a link pivotally connected to the bars, a jawactuating lever and means carried by the lever to retain it in operativeposition.

In testimony whereotwe have hereunto set our hands. y

' EDWARD GEE.V

`ROBERT L. BURNS.

